Expressive Arts Therapy

Expressive Arts Therapy integrates the creative arts (such as visual arts, music, drama, prose, poetry, dance, movement, and others) with traditional talk therapy in order to explore the unconscious processes that often are impossible to describe in words.

The Expressive Arts Therapist seeks to understand the clients better by finding an arts modality which allows clients to express themselves more fully. Each of the arts modalities brings special strengths and abilities in bridging the expanse between the literal reality and the world of the imagination, where life experiences are held in symbols. By engaging in the expressive arts activity the client participates in his/her own healing, using the language of his/her own psyche. The process is guided from within, rather than imposed from without.

In addition to empowering clients and opening them to their own inner depths, Expressive Arts Therapy enriches the couples and group therapy by providing a powerful tool for deepening communication. Self-expression and experiencing others through movement, music, or drawing helps people understand each other from the inside out. As partners, families, or groups enter the imaginal world together, they can explore the roots of dysfunctional beliefs and behaviors, and experience new creative insights.

Please, contact me if you have more questions about Expressive Arts Therapy.

CIIS Expressive Arts Therapy program website was used to compile this article.

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